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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29221014">Day 6: Insomnia</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderShell/pseuds/SpiderShell'>SpiderShell</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FEBUWHUMP 2021: IronDad [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"Take me instead", BAMF Tony Stark, Child Trafficking (attempted), FebuWhump2021, Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Poor Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:55:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29221014</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderShell/pseuds/SpiderShell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter nodded with a tired smile and rolled over onto his stomach with a groan, one hand wrapped around his forehead. He looked the very picture of misery, and Tony’s heart gave a little twist as he returned with two pills and a glass of water in hand. “It should go away soon,” he reassured. “Go to sleep, and you should feel better in the morning.”</p><p>AKA Two times Tony caught Peter awake later than he should be up, and the one time he realised what was happening.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FEBUWHUMP 2021: IronDad [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 6: Insomnia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wanted to sort of do a 5 + 1 fic, but because it's Febuwhump and I'm trying to write these in one day, I decided to shorten it quite a bit. Hope you guys enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>1. Tony sat in his bed, leaning against the headboard while tapping at the screen of his StarkPad. He sighed, yawning and swiping his finger down the screen to lower the brightness. It was a while past midnight, but he was almost done. He could surely stay awake for thirty minutes more….right?</p><p>Pepper had hidden his coffee supply, so he couldn't even turn to caffeine to help him. All he had was his own strength of mind to stay awake, and even that was fading fast. </p><p>He decided to go get a glass of water from the kitchen, so he tip-toed to the door and quietly opened it - Peter was asleep down the hallway and though he usually slept like a log, Tony didn't want to take any chances. As he turned towards the kitchen and living area of the penthouse, he glanced to his left and noticed a thin strip of light under Peter's door. Why was the kid still awake?</p><p>“Pete?” he called softly, not sure if he had just fallen asleep with the light on or if he was actually awake. When he got no answer, he pushed the door open to reveal the boy leaning over a textbook, hastily scribbling notes on a pad to his right, and earphones plugged into his ears. </p><p>Both smiling at Peter’s overachieving tendencies and horrified at his sleeping schedule, Tony crept up behind him and pulled the earphones out of his ears, laughing as the boy squeaked. </p><p>“Äch, Mr. Stark, you gave me a fright!” he protested. “You could have given me a heart attack!”</p><p>Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re too young,” he countered, glancing over the boy's shoulders to see what he was working on. “What are you doing up so late?”</p><p>Peter’s eyes dropped to the floor and back up to his mentor. “I’ve got a test tomorrow, so I needed to make sure I understood the content fully,” he explained. </p><p>Something didn't seem quite to Tony, but he naïvely let it slide. </p><p>“Alright,” he said, eventually. “But make sure you go to bed soon.”</p><p>“Okay, Mr. Stark,” Peter replied cheerily as his mentor left. Of course, he had no such intentions.</p>
<hr/><p>2. <em>Boss, Peter seems to be in some sort of distress.</em> </p><p>Tony looked up from tinkering on his suit, heart rate quickening. “What’s wrong with the kid?”</p><p>
  <em>He seems to be pacing back and forth, clutching his head. Would you like me to bring up visual feed?</em>
</p><p>“No, don’t bother. I’ll go check up on him myself,” Tony said, more worried that he’d like to admit about why the kid was still awake at - he checked his watch - 2:30 am. Had he had a nightmare?</p><p>He opened the door to the kid's room and slipped inside. Peter was no longer pacing the room, but was now hanging upside down from the roof, muttering agitatedly to himself. </p><p>“Kid, are you okay?” This wasn’t Peter’s normal behaviour, and Tony was growing more concerned. </p><p>Peter did a flip and landed on the ground with a huff. “Do I look okay?” he demanded irritatedly, rubbing at his face with a scowl. </p><p>Tony put his hands up. “Alright, alright, no need to get all hot and bothered. I just asked you a simple question.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark,” Peter answered softly, falling back onto his bed with an exhausted sigh, “I’m just in a bad mood.” As an afterthought, he added: “I also have a pretty bad headache.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s okay, Pete,” Tony said, patting the boy’s knee. “I’ll go get you some Tylenol.”</p><p>Peter nodded with a tired smile and rolled over onto his stomach with a groan, one hand wrapped around his forehead. He looked the very picture of misery, and Tony’s heart gave a little twist as he returned with two pills and a glass of water in hand. “It should go away soon,” he reassured. “Go to sleep, and you should feel better in the morning.”</p><p>He turned to head for the door, and missed Peter’s apprehensive grimace. “Have a good sleep, Pete,” he called out. </p><p>“‘Kay,” Peter mumbled. Of course he had no such intentions.</p>
<hr/><p>As a young man and even now, Tony could never have been described as an eavesdropper. Even with his terrible manners and etiquette, intentionally listening to someone’s conversation or phone was borderline rude, and no matter how the public painted him, not even he would stoop to that level. </p><p>It was only an accident. It’s not really eavesdropping if you walk past a room and just happen to hear something that sounds a bit concerning, is it? And if he stayed to hear out the rest of that conversation - that’s only for the person’s good, right?</p><p>At least, that’s what Tony told himself as he leaned up against the wall outside Peter’s room, listening to the boy’s animated (and might he mention loud? - that could be a good excuse for why he was here right now) phone call with his best friend, Ned. </p><p>“I just can’t do it anymore,” Peter said, sounding agitated and exhausted. “I’m tired of not being able to sleep.”</p><p><em>What??</em> Tony thought, frowning. Peter was struggling to sleep?</p><p>“I..I looked it up and I think I have insomnia…” Peter said, his voice cracking at the end. “I don’t know how to get rid of it.”</p><p>The knowledge hit Tony like a ton of bricks. That’s why Peter had been up so late so many nights - he couldn’t sleep. He sighed sadly, shaking his head slowly. Why couldn’t the kid have just told him? Tony himself had struggled with insomnia plenty of times in his life. He understood how it felt. </p><p>He moved to the kitchen and waited for Peter to come out of his room, a false happy expression pasted onto the boy’s face, masking the exhaustion he knew he must undoubtedly be feeling. </p><p>“Hey Pete,” he greeted. </p><p>“Hello,” Peter answered, surreptitiously rubbing at his eyes. </p><p>“So, do you want to tell me about why you haven’t been sleeping?”</p><p>Peter looked at Tony with wide eyes. “Uh...I...w-what do you mean?” he said, tripping over his words. “I’m fine…”</p><p>“You’re such a terrible liar,” Tony chuckled, putting down the dishes he was putting away and walking to Peter, putting his hands on his shoulders. “Now, tell me the truth.”</p><p>Peter stared at his mentor for a couple seconds before dropping his gaze, defeated. The false mask fell from his face, and underneath, Tony was able to see the exhausted, scared boy he’d tried to hide. “I have insomnia,” he whispered, saying the word like it was something to be ashamed of. “I’m sorry…”</p><p>“No, Pete,” Tony said, his heart breaking. “This is not your fault. I know how hard this is, and how tired you’re feeling - believe me, I’ve been there.”</p><p>“Really?” Peter asked, his eyes flickering up. “But you’re Iron Man.”</p><p>“Being Iron Man has nothing to do with my sleeping habits. For quite a while, I had chronic insomnia, and it got so bad once that I had to be hospitalised.” He saw Peter’s terrified face and hurriedly continued. “But, you’re not at that point, I think. We can still fix this.”</p><p>“How?” A single tear slipped down Peter’s cheek. </p><p>Almost instinctively, Tony reached out and wiped it away. “We’ll give you some melatonin pills before going to bed, and I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, no matter how long it takes. You should start going to bed at the same time every night, and put away your phone and any homework forty-five minutes before going to bed - that way, your brain doesn’t think it should be staying awake and will be more inclined to fall asleep. If that doesn’t work, we’ll explore other options, okay?”</p><p>Peter, desperately relieved, stepped forward and flung his arms around Tony. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he murmured. “I’m just so tired of being tired.”</p><p>“It’s okay, Pete,” Tony soothed, smoothing the boy’s unruly curls. “We’ll beat this together.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Love you guys, and see ya tomorrow!! ✌🤟</p></blockquote></div></div>
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